The reason we are not eating the contaminated meat is because it is theoretically possible for the virus to mutate and become a risk to humans, precisely as has happened with BSE/CJD. Anyone who feels comfortable about eating meat contaminated with foot & mouth should think very carefully about the possible consequences. It was only a few years ago that a Tory MP was filmed publicly feeding his small children beefburgers to demonstrate how safe British beef was, so certain were the government that humans couldn't catch BSE from the meat of infected cattle.